Shadow of a Nightmare
by b09boy
Summary: Bandit. Mercenary. Swordsman. Muderer. Hero. The story of the man who became the greatest lone massacrist. The story of the man who overcame the purest evil. The story of Siegfried Schtauffen.
1. The Nightmare Begins

Hello and welcome to my story. Or should I say Namco's story retold. Anyway, first thing's first. I do not own any of the Soul series or the characters therein. I am making no money off this product, so I would kindly ask not to be sued.

As I was saying, hello and welcome to Shadow of a Nightmare. As you might have guessed, this is Siegfried's tale from just before he started his quest to how he became the Azure Knight to how he freed himself from Soul Edge to his quest to seal the sword forever and then even past that. So basically his story from Soul Edge to Soul Calibur 3 with a lil' something before and a lot o' something after.

Most likely there will be a few characters nowhere to be found in the story. Many I'll probably fit in as cameos and many will be main characters for a time, but some I might not do anything with. Also, many characters will likely be seen once and never heard from again. They may be major characters in one part of the story, but that's no reason to force them in later. Also, this story is purely in Siegfried's perspective, even when he becomes Nightmare. As for the guest characters from Soul Calibur 2, they will not be seen seeing as how none of them fit well into the story.

I'm also sure many of you here are looking for a lil' romance between your favorite knight and whatever character. First off, let me say this is not gonna be a yaoi so don't even suggest he gets it on with Kilik or Link or whatever (and if anyone says Voldo I swear I will hunt you down and castrate you...or if you're a woman just kinda kick you around a bit). Second, I do have a planned romantic plot later, but it won't even begin until well, well into the story. Don't worry, I'm not gonna pull some original character out and have a cheesy love story come outta left field, but neither am I gonna tell you who it's gonna be with.

Lastly, little notes before I begin this. I hate author's notes in stories. They ruin the pace so I only put them in at the very beginning and very end. I will, however, answer questions in the review section. Also, this will probably be pretty long. It won't be all fights either. As much as I've had them fight in the game, I doubt Siegfried met Yun-seong or Maxi too often. Conversely, this isn't some pure emotional piece. There will be a lot of descriptions when needed (hell, look at the first chapter) but, again, I'm gonna write what's needed. I should also state I rated this story as I did for a reason. This isn't Happy Skip Through Sesame Street. This is Shadow of a Nightmare. There's gonna be swearing, blood, death and, at some points, sex (though nothing which crosses into lemon territory). Another thing to note, the Soul story is a bit confusing at times in the details. Some bits are harder to find than others. I'm gonna tell you right now that some parts are gonna be wrong. Some I might even change myself to help make things a little clearer. One final thing: though this is my first fan fiction, this is not my first story. If you like my writing style I do have a work in progress up at fictionpress under this same name. It's dark future instead of dark medieval/renaissance, but it has much the same writing style. Think that's about it. Enough with the long notes.

Let the games begin...

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Call me a fool. Call me whatever you'd like. Perhaps that's exactly what I am. Here I was, an hour from the event that could raise me from the dregs of normal society and I'm nursing an ale. Stupid. Foolish. I know it. And I don't give a damn.

Who's gonna stop me? Local militia? The bouncer sittin' in the corner eying the barmaids? The people I work for? The last one almost has me barking with laughter. I don't work for nobody. I'm the boss. And the people who work for me...they might not like it, but they're not gonna say anything and they're not gonna do anything. Siegfried Schtauffen didn't become leader of the Black Wind thieves because of his charming charisma. In any case, I know my limits. A little mug to clear the throat and ease the tension, that's all.

One hour to become rich, or so I hope. An hour to become a hero as well. Couldn't get better than that. The Germanic crusades against the Holy Roman Empire were in full force and the boys and I...we don't much like people cowering away from the war. Traitors. That's all they are. People abandoning their posts while good men such as my father fight for them. Traitors would take the spoils of war and run away. We'd take the spoils, they'd lose their lives and we'd be loved for it. Yeah, I'm proud to have come up with the idea.

I took a long swallow of ale.

'course, we haven't exactly faced off against any soldiers yet. Sure, some of the boys can handle their own. We've done the passing merchant and even a noble or two. But a war veteran was a different story, coward or no. Surprise would be the element of the game. That and me.

As I said, they didn't make me leader for nothin'. You'd be hard-pressed to find a swordsman like me around. My father taught me the basics and the rest I learned through tough self training. Gotta know how to swing a sword if you're gonna get into the business of fighting. Some call my style barbaric, even crude. Say my broadsword couldn't match up to a rapier or gladius wielded by someone with half decent training. Then we fight and my sword makes 'em bedridden or six feet under.

I polished off the ale and looked to my third. Roy's smaller than most of the boys, but he's got the brains and he's quick. Nevertheless, he woulda been next to nothing for the Black Wind if I hadn't taken over a few months back. He's neither a handsome man, nor is he charismatic. What he is is efficient in planning. Probably why he was currently smiling nervously while changing glances between me and his water. Yeah, he's the smart one, alright. Salia, my second, was back at base running most of the gang in my absence. She'd have given me lip for this. Probably will when I get back.

"Time to go," I said to Roy. He looked relieved.

"Aye. I'll have the guys saddle the horses." I nodded and he disappeared through the entranceway. Standing, I adjusted the leather on my chain mail. It was cheap, not well made at all, but it was better than what most people saw around here. I turned to leave as well when the bouncer stepped in my way.

"Thinkin' o' leavin' withou' payin, are ye? Ya thinks wrong," he said with a scowl. I eyed the mace he kept at his side. The notched iron sword my father had given me was with my horse in the stables with two of my thieves - I've found it easier in the past to not carry a sword almost as large as I am into the bar with me. Perhaps it'd make leaving a lot quicker, but then entering had become a bigger problem the times I had. Nonetheless, some large oaf with a better liking toward a chubby barmaid than his job ain't a match for me, mace or no.

"I do what I want, boy." The bouncer laughed then. Not that I can blame him, really. He's somewhere in his mid 20's, I'm 16. And as a 5'6" fair-haired man with a neat haircut I probably didn't look like much to his considerably larger form.

"Hey Ruegar! We gots a real fool here!" the bouncer called to the barkeep over my shoulder. I didn't turn to see Ruegar's grin. I'm sure he heard. "Listen..._boy_...you's gonna pay or you's gonna have yer teeth punched down yer throat."

I had to smile at that. The bouncer loosened his mace from his belt. Behind him I saw Roy with a dagger in his hand and one of my bigger muscles, Hans, fingering the hatchet by his side.

"Hey! You hear me, lout?" I turned my eyes back to the bouncer just as he took the mace out.

"Sure I did. But I didn't listen. You have an awful voice." The bouncer turned bright red and grunted. Swinging the mace upward, he caught nothing but air. That and my shoulder. Fighting with a broadsword can be a slower style and I needed to learn quickly how to dodge instead of block all the time lest I'm forced into a constant defensive. A second later the bouncer was on the ground and the barkeep had his hands in the air, a crossbow on the table in front of him and a knife on the wall beside him. Told ya Roy was quick.

"Get your knife back," I said to Roy as I picked up the bouncer's mace before he reorientated himself. "Thanks, boy, for your contribution to the Black Wind." That said, I continued on my way out.

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"What'd the scouts say?" Siegfried asked as the merry band of bandits rode along the trail. Roy was beside him with Hans and a half dozen others taking up the rear.

"The soldiers were just making camp when our scouts left," Roy replied. "A score of men, all exhausted. All well-armed and armored. Must've been in the war for awhile to get some of the equipment they have. Or got lucky with their spoils."

"What sort of equipment?"

"Seven with plate armor, eight with chain or scale. The rest are in leather. Five swordsmen, mixed axes and spears. Three bows."

"Five swords... Those could be valuable."

"Aye. What do we do with 'em though? Five swords is a small fortune. Or we could spread 'em across the men." Siegfried thought on this for a moment before finally shaking his head.

"I'll decide later. What else?"

"All 20 have horses."

"But they're not gonna be riding them while resting."

"No, but they could once the fighting starts. A score of men and a score of horses. No spares. They have no watches. Apparently they believe themselves safe in their own homeland."

"And the scouts?"

"Darius and Gregor are waiting for us. Said they'd keep an eye on things. The rest went to check the trail ahead to make sure there were no stragglers. They should be waiting for us as well." Roy sounded uneasy at that.

"What are you thinking?" Siegfried asked.

"14 ragtag thieves against a score of armed and armored soldiers. This could backfire badly, Siegfried."

"We have surprise. They have exhaustion."

"And training."

"And cowardice." Roy bit his lip and looked away. "Relax. We'll win this easily enough. When we come out of this we will be more powerful than ever."

"I hope you're right," Roy said with a frown.

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Despite his words, Siegfried couldn't help but be silently apprehensive when he saw the camp. 14 against 20. A lower number of untrained brigands against a higher number of trained soldiers.

The good news was they didn't suspect a thing. Some had even gone so far as to take off their armor and weapons. Not the commander, however. While everybody lazed around in their exhaustion the commander walked back and forth across the campsite, checking this or that while still wearing his plate armor and a large broadsword strapped across his back.

'I'll take care of him myself,' Siegfried thought. 'A man like that could rip through the others as if they were children with sticks.' He looked around at is band of thieves spread out across the trees and bushes and winced. 'Many of them _are_ children with sticks.'

Siegfried observed the traitors for a few moments more before deciding there was no more use putting this off. The plan was in place, all the boys needed was a signal. He waved his arm and two bows thrummed together in the darkness. A second later and one man was howling with a feathered leg, another laying silent with a arrow in his neck. The soldiers stared in shock at what had happened. The thieves charged through the forest with mixed battle cries.

Together te traitors tried to prepare themselves, tripping over logs drunkenly or grabbing at weapons lying feet away. They never had a chance. The wounded man was first to go down, an axe splitting his head like dead wood. Next was some drunk trying to fumble an axe from a detached belt and failing miserably. One man holding a spear stepped in Siegfried's way and was dispatched with such a powerful horizontal slash he was sent flying a few feet with a lost arm and nearly a lost lower body as well.

Then the commander appeared and everything else was lost to the leader of the Black Wind. The man wasn't large, perhaps the same size as Siegfried himself, but he held his broadsword in a skillful manner. No features were to made out in the dim lighting, only movements. Flashes of blades and circling bodies. The commander made a powerful downward slash, but Siegfried merely moved out of the way and pulled his sword behind his shoulder. With all the strength of his arm he brought the weapon down, intending to split the man in two, but the commander too moved out of the way and Siegfried was forced to pull up his sword before the great broadsword cut through his chain mail. They checked their blades once, twice...too many times to count in the heat of battle.

'He's good,' Siegfried thought between fear and excitement. 'Very good.'

Both men backed off and circled each other, studying for a weakness which wasn't there. Siegfried was first to move, aiming a lightning-fast sweep from his sword which was quickly parried by the man. Off balance and at a disadvantage, Siegfried went into a crouch just in time for the sword to brush his hair. A tingle of fear went down his spine then, but he ignored it and sent his shoulder into the man followed quickly by his hilt.

There the commander keeled over. There Siegfried pulled his sword from the ground in an upward sweep which split his plate mail. The commander was sent flying back onto the ground then, his armor shattered, but otherwise fine. Siegfried took the opportunity to charge his downed opponent, pulling his sword across and over his body to end in a massive slash. The commander rolled half a second too late and lost his leg.

A pained scream echoed across the battlefield and Siegfried grinned down at the man. Lifting his great iron broadsword, he made one final sweep and beheaded the man.

Siegfried didn't allow himself to relax until he looked across the campsite and saw the battle was done with. Before him stood 14 men and a score of corpses. He smiled widely and bent to take the commander's head.

"Let today be the day the world finds the Black Wind more than a petty band of thieves!" he said to the others in a booming voice. The others let out a great cheer at that. "Even their commander was no match for us! Here we remain unscathed and this better equipped soldier loses his head! The better men have won this day!" He lifted the head for the others to see and they cheered once more. And Siegfried got his first good look at the man.

The head dropped to the ground. Excitement from seconds ago was replaced by fear, doubt, surprise and sadness all in one. That couldn't be... No, that wasn't possible. He...

"Siegfried...you need to see this," Roy said, pulling up a parchment from one of the dead men's bags. "It says these men were on leave after a major victory. They didn't run away from the war. They were coming home for a visit."

"No." This couldn't be happening. But the glossed eyes in his father's head said otherwise.

Siegfried found himself running. He didn't know where or for how long, but he did so as fast as he could. This was a dream. It couldn't be happening. None of this was possible. He tripped over a root and fell to his knees.

No, this wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare.


	2. A Plan of Vengeance

'It couldn't have been me. I couldn't have done it. Father... Gods, no. I killed my father. I killed him. I killed him. I took his head and paraded it for everyone to see. No...I couldn't have done that. Why did I do it? Why didn't I recognize him? Why didn't I guess? I should have recognized him. I should have known. I should have known. Gods...'

Siegfried laid his head on the ground, fingers digging into the dirt. Bloody fingers. His father's blood.

"Father..." he whispered. "I didn't mean it. If I had known..." Tears streaked down his face in his silent sobbing. "No...father..."

'How did I not recognize him? I should have recognized him. Gods, it was all a mistake. It was always a mistake. I should have recognized him. I would have recognized him. His head...I held his head in my hands. Did he recognize me? Father...if I had known. I would have recognized you. I would have if I'd known. I killed him... I cut his head clean off... But I would have known...

'He's my father. I would have known if I'd fought him. I would have known if it was him. But it was me. I killed him. I took his head and held it for everyone to see. It was me...but I would have known if it was him. He died. He had his had taken and I held it with my own hand. I looked into those eyes and they stared at me with...hate. He hated me... My father hated me. No...he hated his killer...

'His killer. I killed him. I didn't mean to. If I only would have known... I would have stopped it. Yes, I would have stopped him from being murdered. I would have stopped his murderer. Gods...how could it have happened? I held his head in my hands. Did he see me then? Did his mind stay alive long enough to see me? Did he know all along?

'No, he couldn't have. Gods...my men...me and my men killed them. I ordered them to attack, but if I had known...I'm a killer. It's as good as if I had done it with my own blade...or was it...?

No, I would have known. I would have known if I had been fighting him. But who? Gods, I should have stopped them. I would have if I'd known. I held his head in my hands...and he looked so hateful. I would have known. His killer, though. His murderer...I'll kill them. I'll find out who it was and I'll kill them.

'But my father was so skilled...Gods...my father was one of the best. How could I ever hope to defeat the man who was victorious over him? All I have is a rusty old sword. Hardly a weapon which could defeat such a man. I'll have my vengeance. I'll train...I'll find a sword worthy to kill the man. Powerful enough to destroy him. I'll kill him. I'll kill him and hold his head in my hand...just as sure as my father's killer held his head in their hand.'

Siegfried stood up, his mind resolved on what he must do.

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The camp was empty by the time Siegfried returned. The Black Wind had cleared out hours ago, it seemed, leaving everything untouched. They had murdered everybody and taken nothing.

'So it was all about the act. They came here to kill, not to steal. When I am ready I will hunt down every last one of them,' Siegfried thought angrily. His father's head lay where Siegfried had last seen it: turned on the left cheek ten paces away from the rest of the mutilated body. Bastards... 'I will have my revenge.'

There was no shovel in sight, but plenty of firewood and kindling the soldiers had gathered before their demise. It was with this that Siegfried set out to build the pyre for his father's final farewell. For an hour the former bandit worked, placing the logs and kindling and finally his father's corpse, armor and all. The leg was put back in place, but the head kept tilting back to the side. Finally, through his tears, Siegfried managed to hold it facing the sky with two logs to either side.

When all was completed he took a torch from one of the corpse's death grips and lit it in the early morning darkness. "Fredrick Schtauffen..." a sob escaped him and Siegfried had to avoid falling to his knees. "Father...you were a great man and a heroic knight. You will be avenged."

He threw the torch on top of the kindling and watched it catch fire. In minutes he watched his father within the blazing inferno, wishing with everything inside him this wasn't the final goodbye. He watched most his fathers face - so dirty from war, yet it was still his father from last they'd been together. It was still stuck in that expression of hate. The fair-haired knight in shining armor Siegfried could only dream of being, and yet it seemed to Siegfried he might almost be looking into a mirror. And then the flames took the image away and the ex thug watched his father's body slowly turn to ash before him.

When all was finished and nothing but embers and ash stood before him, Siegfried hefted the great steel broadsword his father had used for as long as he could remember. Faust, notched since he had last seen it, but otherwise none the worse for wear. It was a good weapon, but not strong enough. Not powerful enough for his father's murderer.

Strapping the weapon to his back, Siegfried made his way toward the nearest town. He needed a good meal and information. Sleep could wait for another day.

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A full chicken, a loaf of bread and a mild ale were torn to shreds almost as soon as they were set in front of Siegfried. The chicken was overcooked, the loaf was too hard and the ale tasted like piss, but he hardly noticed. From behind the bar a very round barkeep started preparing his establishment for the day, yawning every few seconds. Siegfried had woken the man and demanded a meal and the barkeep hardly complained, what with the gigantic sword on his back.

"Very early in the morning for someone like you to be up and about," the barkeep said, wiping the bar down. Siegfried managed a grunt and kept on eating. "That is a very large weapon you're carrying. Must be difficult to handle."

"For you," Siegfried said and gulped down half his ale.

"You a sellsword?" The former bandit slammed his mug down, making the barkeep jump. "Or would you prefer not to..."

"I'm nothing," Siegfried interrupted. A few minutes passed by where he downed the loaf of bread while the barkeep started preparing mugs for the day.

"That's a very fine weapon for someone as young as you."

"It was my father's."

"Was he a knight?" Siegfried didn't respond. "Not many weapons so good as that in these parts. Though I hear rumors Stefan's managed his hands on the Sword of Salvation itself."

"The what?"

"Sword of Salvation they call it. You never heard of it?" Siegfried shook his head. "The greatest sword ever made, powerful enough to tear the heavens apart, so it is said."

"Sounds like a fable." The barkeep shrugged.

"Believe what you will. A man such as myself only knows what he is told and what I've been told is Sir Stefan managed his hands on the Sword of Salvation." Siegfried grunted and continued on silently with his meal, but inside his mind was a whirlwind.

'It is like an answer to my prayers before I ever asked them. A sword which could tear the heavens apart he says... This is my father's work - a sign. This is the sword meant for his vengeance. No other.' "How did Stefan acquire such a weapon?"

"Who knows. Probably the spoils of another successful defense. The marquis Andre seems very unhappy with the last battle, I hear." Siegfried understood that all too well. The Black Wind had it's stronghold in the middle of the Black Forest and Ostrihinesburg, Sir Stefan's castle, was situated mere leagues away near the outer edges of the forest. It gave the thieves good knowledge of Stefan and his enormous castle of stone and canals. If the stone walls weren't enough to keep enemies at bay, the wide canals were. And many, many lords and armies had tested as much in the past. Siegfried stood up and started for the door.

"Hey! I expect payment for..." the rest was cut off as the door slammed shut. Siegfried made his way to the stables beside the tavern and quickly saddled and straddled his horse. The barkeep was waiting outside with a pair of men from the town militia, but Siegfried simply ignored them and pushed the horse into a trot around them, much to their screaming displeasure.

'Sir Stefan is always on the hire for mercenaries,' he thought to himself as he left the small village behind him. 'He would welcome a skilled swordsman with open arms. I can take the sword from him, one way or another, and avenge my father with this...Sword of Salvation.'


End file.
